Without a Trace
by SarahKathryn
Summary: When an unsub targets one of their own, the team must work quickly before it is too late.
1. Chapter 1

Title:

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS and I think Paramount. I don't own either (wish I did, then I'd have some money).

Summary: When an unsub targets one of their own, the team must work quickly before it is too late.

Chapter One

He ran his fingers through the long hair, almost lovingly. "Don't worry, my darling, I'm going to take care of you." he crooned, rocking back and forth, cradling the body of the dead woman like a baby. He lay her down gently on the hard cold cement floor and began to stroke her face, her hair, and her body, almost as the blind do to memorize someone's features. He lifted her hands and marveled at the long pink fingernails. "How gorgeous, my darling. Must have cost you a pretty penny to do this."

Then suddenly, like a summer storm, his mood changed. He began to rant and rave, yell and scream. "Didn't anyone ever tell you that vanity is a sin! Beauty dies, just like you did, you horrible creature! You will go to hell!" He screamed some more, echoing off the brick walls that surrounded him and his victim. No one heard him, just as no one had heard her, or the victims before her, as he had slowly drained the life from them.

Behaviorial Analysis Unit

Federal Bureau of Investigation

Quantico, Virginia

"Knock, knock." Jason Gideon rapped on the doorframe of Jennifer Jareau's office, where she was, for once, actually in the room. "We've got a case and we need you with us. Here's the file, I'll brief you more throughly with the team."

"Thanks." JJ took the file. "Where are we headed this time?"

"Santa Barbara, California, and we'll be leaving early in the afternoon." he answered her second question before she asked it.

"Okay. Hey, you want me to write a press release on what's in here? I can probably get something out of this, right?" She indicated the file in her hand.

"Sure, you probably can. I don't know who well the press has been keeping the locals informed. There are a few clippings in there but not many. Guess we'll find out when we get there how they've been doing." Gideon shrugged. "Let's go brief the team."

JJ nodded and followed him down the hall to the conference room.

"I've got us on a two o'clock flight to Santa Barbara, so everyone needs to be back here by 1:30."

"Okay."

They turned a corner and nearly ran into Penelope Garcia.

"Garcia, we're going to need you to look up these people." Gideon handed her a list. "I want the most through backgrounds you can get, going back as far as you can. I want to know _everything_."

"Got it. What happened?" Garcia asked JJ as Gideon strode ahead.

"Looks like the disapperence of three women. Literally. Like they were there one minute and gone the next." JJ rifled through the file.

"Creepy. I'd better get on this. See ya later." Garcia ducked into her office.

"Bye." JJ hurried to catch up with Gideon.

When she walked into the conference room, Gideon was hanging crime scene photos on the whiteboard. There was three sets, one for each victim. As she took her place at the long table in the middle of the room, the rest of the team came in. Morgan came first, Hotch and Reid came together, it looked as if they had been out at the firing range practicing, and last came the newest member of their team, Elle.

Gideon turned to look at his team now assembled before him. "As you can see, there have been three victims. What you do not see is their bodies or anything that says what has happened to them. Victoria Lawrence, age 24, and Mildred Sidney and Cleo Bartholomew, both 26, have all disappeared within the last three weeks. No one has seen nor heard from them."

"Three victims in three weeks, this guy is escalating _fast_," Elle remarked, shaking her head.

"I think it is possible there are victims we aren't aware of, maybe homeless women no one would've reported missing." Gideon suggested.

"Very possible." Reid got up to look at the photos. "Most unsubs don't act in such a succession without some experience. with prior victims, so he has probably had time to perfect his M.O."

Hotch looked up from the file he was studying, "Not a whole lot to go on. Is there any connection between the victims besides their disapperances?"

"The local police haven't found any."

Morgan was quiet, reading the files and glancing at the photos from time to time. "There doesn't seem to be much of a struggle. That suggests they either knew the unsub or that they were drugged with something fast acting like choloform."

"Not many use that anymore." Hotch said. "But it is possible."

JJ nodded, taking notes for the press release. "We'll have to see what Garcia comes up with in her search. Maybe someone works where they can get choloform easily or something that works like that."

"They all look alike, similar hair length and color, same color eyes. They're probably all about the same height and weight,too." Reid commented.

"The looks may be the same but nothing else is." Elle looked up from one of the newspaper clippings she was reading. "Victoria Lawrence teaches fourth grade, Mildred is a stay at home mom of three, and Cleo is a dancer. _Where_ is the connection? _What_ is the connection?"

"Just because we can't see it, doesn't mean it doesn't exist." Morgan answered. "There's got to be a reason why these women were chosen."

"Maybe it was random. Like they were the first longhaired women he saw." Reid suggested.

Gideon shook his head. "It's possible, but not too likely. The crime scenes were too pristine for that. If it were opportunity, then there would probably be more signs of a struggle."

The team agreed with him, then went five different directions to ready themselves for the trip and the case, if that was even possible.

They always tried to prepare as best they could but the truth was that no matter how horrific the photos were (or in this case the lack of anything to tell what had happened), the reality was always worse.

A/N- The story is outlined out for five chapters, I'll post one a week, I think as it takes me about that long to write them. Please read and review! Thanks! Sarah


	2. Chapter 2

Title: Without a Trace (working title, got any better ideas?)

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS and I think Paramount. I don't own either (wish I did, then I'd have some money).

Summary: When an unsub targets one of their own, the team must work quickly before it is too late.

**Chapter Two**

He staggered through the woods, the limp body over his shoulder, weighing him down, pressing his feet into the deep mud beneath him. He struggled through the mud and underbrush, nearly tripping over fallen tree branches.

He knew exactly where he was going, he had been there before. But this trip was different, this time, he was going to send a message to those high and mighty FBI agents. This woman he carried would be found, her message would be that he meant business, that he was not to be messed around with. He did not like to be mocked. The media mocked him: "The Ghost", "Spirit", and many other names. It made him angry.

He had thought of another plan to get his message across. He would take one of their own and watch with great amusement as they ran in circles trying to find her. They hadn't found the others yet, they would not find her either. They'd find only what he wanted them to find.

The body lay in the mud, face up, the lifeless eyes staring into the clearing sky. Nearly naked, her clothes ripped and torn so badly they hardly resembled clothes anymore. In her right hand, she held a note.

Gideon knelt in the mud beside the body and gently pried the note out of the dead hand. "I need an evidence bag," he called.

Reid scurried over to him. "Here," he said, holding the bag open so Gideon could drop the note inside. "What does it say?"

Gideon straightened the note inside the protective plastic covering and read aloud:

"She danced as the devil, now she sings as an angel."

"Sounds like a religious thing." Hotch commented, coming up behind them.

Gideon nodded, agreeing with him.

"It sounds like he feels a need to cleanse them, maybe by killing them?" Reid spoke up. "See the marks over the body, they look like burn marks. Fire can be a symbol of purity."

"Possible. It could also be that the unsub wants to destroy her. She was a pretty girl, maybe he is trying to say something about that as most of the marks are based on the face and upper body." The men began to walk away from the body, leaving the crime scene techs to do their job.

"Morgan," Gideon called to him. "Get Garcia on the phone, see how she's doing on the lists I gave her and have her compare this crime to others."

Morgan nodded and started dialing Quantico on the phone.

"Garcia, what can I find for you today?" Penelope Garcia answered the phone.

"It's Morgan. How you've been doing on the lists?" Morgan asked.

"Okay, we're playin' straight today." Garcia pushed her chair over to one of her many computers. "So far, no biggies. A couple DUIs, but nothing that suggests kidnapping."

"Thanks. We've just found the body of one of the victims, Cleo Bartholomew, and Gideon wants you to run the details through NCIC."

"Give it to me, sugar." she posed her fingers over the keyboard ready to type.

Morgan smiled and began to tell her what they knew so far. "She was half naked, holding a one line note in her hand. Keywords on that would be dance, devil, sing, and angel."

"Sounds like church." she commented as she typed.

"Yeah, it does. Whackos hide behind the church all the time. Okay, and she was burned with a circular object on her face, and upper body."

"Got it. I'll call you with anything I get."

"Bye." Morgan clicked off the phone and went to join the rest of the team.

The reporters clammered around the platform.

"Is it true that a body was found?"

"Who was it?

"Where was she found?

"What is the condition of the body, how long has she been dead?"

JJ stood at the podium and looked at the crowd of reporters. "Yes, a body was found this afternoon. However, we aren't annoucing the identity until the family can be notified. We won't know much until tests are run. We'll tell you what we can, when we can. Thank you." she stepped down and to the side, away from the crowd.

"That's not going to keep them quiet for long." Elle commented.

"No, it's isn't. But we don't have anything else to give them." JJ answered. She glanced back at the crowd. "It's almost easier when there is something to give them, then people know what's going on."

"You miss it?"

"Not at all." she smiled.

"It's getting to be dinnertime. Let's find the guys and go find something to eat." Elle said.

"Great idea." JJ agreed and they went to find the men, who were just coming in to find them.

"According to the coroner's report, Cleo Bartolomew was probably kept alive, between three and five days, after her abduction. The C.O.D. is strangulation." Gideon told his team, that night after they had eaten.

"What about all the bruising and marks on the body?" Hotch asked.

"Most of them were done postmortem."

"Do we know what caused them?" Elle spoke.

"Something round in shape, probably a metal rod."

Reid picked up one of the autopsy photos off the table. "It looks like a circle within a circle."

"Could be anything just about. They took swabbings down to forensics but it'll be a while before we know anything." Gideon answered.

"Will we get anything tonight?"

"Doubt it, it's nearly ten o'clock." Gideon said, after glancing at his watch.

"I think we should try to get some rest, tomorrow is going to be busy." Hotch suggested.

"Yeah, you're right. Who's ready to sleep?" Morgan agreed, half joking.

Gideon sighed, he hated leaving things half done. But there was nothing left to do tonight, and it _had_ been a long flight earlier. "All right. I want everyone back here bright and early, got it?"

With that, the team parted for the night.

A/N- I don't know if JJ ever actually was a reporter, they've never said anything about it, but why not? And also, I know an autopsy probably wouldn't be done in a day, it just works better with the story!See you next week with the third chapter! Sarah


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

He watched her . He had chosen her for two reasons, to satisfy himself, and to send a message to those high and mighty FBI agents. But he had to be especially careful with this one, she was trained to fight back. He couldn't afford to get sloppy with her, it would be a high enough risk to take her off the street. He'd been watching her carefully the few days they'd been in town, he knew where she'd be in the morning. It would be a risk to snatch her like the others but he was going to take it.

JJ drummed her fingers on the countertop as she waited for her order. It was early in the morning, barely seven, and the tattooed teenager with multiple piercings who stood behind the counter seemed to be oblivious to the fact she was in a hurry as the kid was moving very slowly despite the line forming.

"Okay, you wanted six black coffees with sugars and creams on the side, and a dozen glazed doughtnuts right, FBI lady?" the girl spoke in a monotone.

"Yes, thank you. And it's Agent Jareau to you." JJ took the tray of coffee and the box of doughnuts.

The girl shrugged as she counted out JJ's change. "Whatever. Your change is $9.49."

"Thanks." JJ headed out the door into the bright sunshine. Gideon and the rest of the team were waiting on her at the police station and she was already late.

While they were waiting on JJ, the team was getting to meet the detectives who had caught the original missing persons cases, Andrew Thomas and Jacob Slater, who had gotten the first and last cases and Maddie Becket and her partner Laurence McKenzie, who had received the second.

"We did work together on the last case," Slater told Gideon, "By then we thought there was probably a connection between them, being so similar and so close together."

"You're right. We believe all three cases were commited by the same man. We also believe he will strike again, and soon, which is why we need your help and the help of your collegues."

"Lemme just say this up front, I don't like working with the feds, I'm only here because my captain said I had to be here." McKenzie said, leaning back in his chair.

"Shut up, Mack. We're all on the same team here." Becket protested. "Whether you like working with them or not isn't the point, that fact that one woman is dead and two others are missing is!"

"Thank you, Detective Becket." Hotch said, quietly. "She's made a good point. I don't care if you like working with us or not, with your attitude I don't like working with you either, yet here we all are, arguing instead of stopping a killer. Can we continue on with what is important?"

There was some grumbling but after a Look from Becket the disgruntled detectives settled down and allowed the agents to continue with the profile. It was obvious the men had a grudging respect for the short young female detective despite not having any for federal agents.

Gideon sighed and began again. "Like I said, we believe this is the work of one man. He probably lives in the area or nearby and knows the area well. If he follows the pattern before we can get him another woman will disappear within the next 24 hours. The pressure is really on this one, we have to work quickly but carefully.

"He targets a specific type of woman, one in her mid to late twenties, with long hair. He seems to be picking somewhat at random as not much is similar in the victims backgrounds. At some point, he probably knows the victim, well enough that she will go with him without fighting. On the other hand, choloform was found in Cleo Bartholomew's system so it is also possible he gets close enough to put a cloth over the victim's nose and mouth to drug her so she'll go with him. But that is rather risky on an open street so since she was kept alive for three to five days she was probably drugged with it after the abduction." he paused.

Reid took up where Gideon left off. "He uses drugs to hold her captive which suggests that maybe he isn't as strong as he likes to think he is. He probably thinks of himself as this macho man who can do anything to a woman that he likes but they fight back so he has to restrain them in some way."

"Is there any sexual factor in this?" Thomas spoke up again.

"Not so far, no. Which is unusual in the type of case, usually when a woman is held captive by a man for several days there are signs of rape or molestion but there isn't any on Cleo Bartholomew. There is no reason to believe the cases have anything to do with sex, just power." Elle told him.

"Did you like anyone in particular for the crimes?" Morgan asked the foursome.

"At first, we thought of the usual suspects, you know, boyfriends, husbands, but they had airtight alibis. Really nothing connects the cases." Thomas answered.

"That's what I thought,too, at first glance. But they all shop atsome of thesame stores,he could've seen them there. That's why I've got someone running employees back at Quantico. Agent Jareau should be here soon with that information." Gideon said.

Just then, the front desk secretary came rushing in. "There's been another attack!" she practically shrieked.

"What? Where?"

"Downtown, near the coffee shop." she cried. She looked as frazzled as her curly hair.

"All right. Hotch, you, Reid and Morgan go to the shop, Elle, I want you here with me, and JJ, go with Hotch to hold back the reporters." Gideon gave orders.

"JJ isn't here, Gideon. She went to get coffee..." Reid's voice trailed off and they all stared at each other.

Gideon felt his heart sink. Why hadn't they thought of it before? JJ fit the physical profile perfectly, right down to her long hair and blue eyes, why wouldn't the unsub target her? "All right. Hotch and I will go down to the shop and see what is going on. It may not even be her." He hoped he sounded more certain then he felt.

They arrived at the coffee shop, hoping that they wouldn't find what they knew they would. On the ground lay three things, a tray of coffee spilling over the sidewalk, a box of doughnuts, and JJ's FBI badge, left to mock them. Pinned to the billfold of the badge was a note:

"You couldn't even protect your own. Now I have her, and you aren't getting her back."

sorry for the delay, i just started a new job and haven't had much time to write. but i'm hoping to get the fourth chapter up either friday or next sunday as i have those days off :)


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Without a Trace (working title, got any better ideas?)

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS and I think Paramount. I don't own either (wish I did, then I'd have some money).

Summary: When an unsub targets one of their own, the team must work quickly before it is too late.

A/N- forgot the disclaimer last chapter, so here it is again.

**Chapter 4**

He had wasted no time in getting her into the hiding place. He knew that within hours the city would be swarming with the cops and even more federal agents. Maybe it had been too risky to take this one. But the elation and joy of outfoxing the feds was slowly overtaking that dread. He knew that search efforts for this one would be tenfold of that of the others, now that it was a federal agent missing. It would be risky to put her with the others. For now, he had no other choice.

Gideon sat on a bench, thinking. His team moved around him, working with the CSIs and detectives, analyzing the scene and taking pictures of the gathering crowd. Someone from the police department was doing JJ's job, holding back the press. He couldn't watch the young man, it made the situation that much worse. He held JJ's badge in his hands, turning it over and over. Why hadn't he seen the inevitable before it happened? He'd lost agents before and he would not, could not, allow it to happen again.

"Gideon." Morgan suddenly stood beside him. "Garcia's on the phone. She's got something."

Silently, he took the proffered cell phone from Morgan. "What is it?"

"Okay, you gave me a very long list, and I haven't totally finished with it but I've found something very interesting." Penelope Garcia's voice came in loud and clear despite the fact she was three thousand miles away at Quantico.

"_What is it_?" Gideon was in no mood for games, especially when one of his agents was missing.

"All right." Garcia took a deep breath. "This guy, Brian Flannery, isn't Brian Flannery. Or maybe he is, but he is also Ryan Tierney, Kevin Quinn, and Sean Malone, all of whom are on this list."

"You're kidding. And the locals never caught this?" he asked in disbelief.

"I guess not."

"What does he do?"

"Let's see, Brian/Ryan/Kevin/Sean has had several jobs, all at different newspapers. Sean worked at _The Newspaper_ , Ryan worked at _The Banner _, Kevin at _The Tribune _and Brian currently works at _The Herald _in Santa Barbara where he has been for almost a year."

"The victims all had appointments with one of these names. He knew them somehow." Gideon interrupted. "Anything else?"

"Nope. That's it for now."

"She'd have stopped and talked to him, that's how he got her." he hung up on Garcia, who was all too used to it.

"Still doesn't make sense. Even in a city of this size, no one noticed that the same man had four names?" Hotch had joined them.

"Who knows. People see what they want to see. At least now we have something to work with." Gideon stood up. "Let's go meet this guy."

Elle and Reid were still at the precinct, helping the detectives conduct the never ending round of interviews. "Can you describe the man?" Elle patiently asked for the thirtieth time.

The witness, an overexcited girl about twenty, couldn't sit still. "Maybe he had blond hair? Or wait, no, that was the missing girl, the one I saw in the coffee shop."

Elle sighed. "Thanks for your time anyway." She stood up and looked over at Reid, who had his hands full with another female witness, who like her own, wasn't useful, just wanted fifteen minutes of fame.

"I'm going outside." she mouthed to him. She held up her phone so he'd understand. He nodded and turned back to the witness.

Outside, it was a beautiful day which seemed to contradict the morning's event. She dialed Gideon, hoping that maybe they'd found something out.

"Gideon." he answered.

"It's Elle. No one saw anything worthwhile but we've still got a few more witnesses." she told him.

"Garcia gave us a lead, we're going to check it out. Apparently there is a man who has four names, all of which are on the list."

"JJ had that list. He knows we're onto him." Elle hated to remind him.

"Well, now, he has it. He doesn't know there was more then one copy."

She nodded and then realized he couldn't see her. "That's true."

"Okay. We're at the newspaper now, so I'm going to go."

"See ya." she leaned against the brick wall, and took a deep breath. It had already been a long day and it wasn't even one o'clock yet. Somehow, the case had been different when she hadn't known the victims, but now, it was nearly unbearable, although she and JJ weren't close friends.

Reid came out of the precinct looking for Elle. "There you are. They're all useless, each and every one of them. They can all describe JJ but not the unsub." He looked exsperated.

"Gideon has something. They're going to check it out." she told him.

"What are we suppose to do?"

"Stay here, I guess. He didn't say."

"The press is heading toward the precinct." he commented after a few minutes. "I see a news truck."

"And that is what we will do, try to distract the press." Elle started toward the truck.

"You can. I'm not so good in front of the cameras." Reid stammered as he followed her.

"You'll be fine, let's go."

The Herald's office was small as it was one of the smaller papers in town. The three agents strood into the office, meaning business. The young secretary looked up as they came in. "How may I help you?" she asked, politely.

"We need to see Brian Flannery." Morgan told her.

"I'm sorry, he's not here today. Maybe someone else could help you?"

"No, we need to talk to him." Gideon broke in.

"Well, I'm sorry but he's _still_ not here today." she said, annoyed. "I can't make him appear just because you want him."

Gideon started to say something but Hotch held him back. "Do you have an address or a phone number we can reach him at?"

"Yes, I do. But I can't just give it to you."

They showed her their badges. "We're the FBI, ma'am." Hotch said. "Could we have the contact information now, please?"

"Just a minute." She turned to her computer and tapped away on the keys, clicked the mouse a few times and came up with the info. "Brian Flannery, 24352 Cardinal Drive, Port Bates. The phone number is 341-555-3661. That good enough for you?" She was still obviously annoyed at Gideon but didn't seem to mind Hotch and Morgan.

"Thank you." Hotch told her. He lead the other two out of the small office. "Little politeness goes a long way, Gideon." he said when they were outside.

"I don't have time to deal with idiots like her." The conversation ended on that blunt note.

Cardinal Drive was a long deadend street in a nice quiet neighborhood. No one would ever believe a serial killer lived there. The rented four door car that Hotch drove moved quickly down the street, nearly to the end. 24352 was the very last house at the end of a culdesac. The house itself was a two story with a small yard and flowers.

Morgan whistled. "I don't know many men who keep up with gardening."

"Means he's got patience." Gideon grunted.

They filed down the short walkway to the door. Hotch knocked. "Mr. Flannery, it's the FBI!" he called. Gideon and Morgan went around the house, guns drawn. "Mr.Flannery?" Hotch knocked again.

Suddenly, the quiet neighborhood atmosphere disappeared as gunshots rang out. "Gideon! Morgan!" Hotch took off toward the back of the house. He drew his own gun as he ran.

When he got there, the first thing he saw was a brown haired man on the ground, with Morgan's knee in the small of his back. "We got him." Gideon said, trimphantly.

But only half the battle was won, as they still had to find JJ.

Not turning out quite as I'd imagined, but I hope you all enjoy it anyway! And also, I've never been to Santa Barbara, the names of the newspapers and the streetsare purely made up, I have no idea if they truly exist or not. I was gonna post this yesterday but forgot it was Easter and didn't have time. I'll try to finish up within a week or so. Sarah


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Without a Trace (working title, got any better ideas?)

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS and I think Paramount. I don't own either (wish I did, then I'd have some money).

Summary: When an unsub targets one of their own, the team must work quickly before it is too late.

A/N- I don't really know much about GPS units except what I've seen on CSI, so if anything is wrong, I'm sorry.

Chapter 5

Brian Flannery sat, sullen, in Interview Room A. On the other side of the glass, Gideon watched as Hotch attempted to interrogate the man.

"Who are you?" was the first question. "Is it Brian, Kevin, Ryan, or Sean?"

"I want a lawyer."

"Okay. Do you know why you're here?"

"I want a lawyer."

"You know, we haven't actually arrested you yet, so you don't need a lawyer." Hotch was being as patient as he could.

"I don't know nothing about that uppity FBI lady!"

"There are agents going through your house as we speak. If there is any trace of evidence, even the smallest speck, that says Agent Jareau was there, they _will _find it."

"I want a lawyer."

"Fine. Just sit tight, it's going to be a while." Hotch left the room to join Gideon.

Morgan, Elle and Reid were busy turning the house upside down, looking for any clue to where JJ was.

"Anything up there?" Morgan asked as Elle came downstairs, Reid behind her.

"No, nothing. It's like no one lives here."

"Maybe he doesn't." Reid suggested. "This house could just be a front to throw us off track."

Both Morgan and Elle looked at him. It was a good suggestion, one that they should've thought of earlier.

"That makes a lot of sense." Morgan said, slowly. "But then, where does he really live?"

"His car has one of those fancy GPS systems. Most of them hold thirty days of information." Elle volunteered.

"I'll go check it out." Morgan left for the garage.

"Hey, Reid, that was a really brilliant idea." Elle told him.

"Anything to bring JJ back." Reid tried to smile. Ever since he and JJ had gone to that Redskins game together, he'd felt closer to her then any other member of the team. The past twenty four hours had really taken their toll on him, with his friend missing like she was.

Elle patted him on the back as they left the house, headed toward the garage like Morgan. "I'm sure she'll be all right. She knows we're all looking for her."

Out in the garage, Morgan was busy taking the GPS out of the dashboard. It popped out and he fell against the seat of the car from the impact. "Uhhh." he groaned, rubbing the back of his head. "I've got it." he called to them, knowing that Elle and Reid had followed him out.

"Great. Give it to me, I'll upload the data into my laptop." Reid held out his hands.

Gladly, Morgan put the unit into Reid's care. He knew next to nothing about computers and was more then happy to give the job over to someone else who knew what the heck they were doing.Give him good oldfashioned legwork anyday, but computers? Tey were not his friend.

Reid took the GPS unit out to their rental car, where he had left his laptop. Plugging the unit into the computer, he tapped a few keys to bring up the program. Silently, he studied the screen, clicking on the previous day's entry. "I've got it, guys!" he called.

Elle and Morgan came around to the car. "Well, where is it?" Elle demanded.

"Over on St.Francis Drive. I'll call Gideon and Hotch, they're much closer then we are." he pointed out, his finger tapping the map display.

Gideon and Hotch were still behind the one way glass, watching their suspect squirm in the hotseat. It startled them both when Hotch's phone rang.

"Hotchner." he answered.

"Hotch, we think we've got a location on her." Reid's excited voice came over the line. "This house is just a front but the GPS in the car has another address that she could be at." He didn't even bother to explain why they knew the house was a front, he was too anxious to get someone over to the new location.

"That's great! Where? Are you headed there now?" Hotch's tone caused Gideon to turn away from watching Flannery to watching Hotch.

"You and Gideon are much closer then we are, so we thought maybe you'd go instead."

"All right, we'll do that. Where are we going?" Hotch pulled a pad of paper and a pen out of his shirt pocket.

"It's over on St. Francis Drive, about thirty minutes from the police station."

"St. Francis Drive. Got it. But Reid, what is out there? A house or what?"

"I'm not sure, the GPS just says he's made several trips out there, and everytime a vic disappeared he'd make extra trips on that day." Reid hurriedly explained.

"All right, thanks. We'll let you know what we find." Hotch answered, feeling a little letdown. Extra trips did not a kidnapper/murderer make. At least it was more then they had had before since Flannery sure as heck wasn't talking.

The clock was ticking. JJ could hear it from where she lay, tied to a bed, but she couldn't see it. She had lost track of the time. It was dark in the room, although she knew the sun had completed its circle at least once since she had been trapped in the room. The sun had set for the second time a while ago. Remembering what the medical examiner had said about the victims being kept alive for two days didn't help, as the forty eight hours would come to a close by early morning. She shut her eyes against the pain and began to pray the team would find her before it was too late.

Okay, I lied. It's gonna be six chapters instead of five, there was just too much I wanted to put into this chapter that it had to be separated into two. I do try to update once a week, but life and work end up in the way :( see you soon with the conclusion! sarah


	6. Chapter 6

Title: Without a Trace (guess I'm keeping the title, I don't have any other ideas and this is the final chapter)

Disclaimer: Criminal Minds is owned by CBS and I think Paramount. I don't own either (wish I did, then I'd have some money).

Summary: When an unsub targets one of their own, the team must work quickly before it is too late.

A/N I know it took a while for this to finally get up and I'm sorry, I have no excuse other then writers block. I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to do and how to write it but just couldn't seem to get it right. I will get the conclusion done, hopefully within a decent amount of time. Suggestions are welcome altho I may not use them. Thanks! Sarah

**Chapter 6**

Once on St. Francis Drive, it became rather obvious as to which building Flannery chosen. At the end of the road was an old church rather rundown but for the purposes he had probably used it for, it was was perfect.

Inside the building was a long hallway with doors lining it. The door at the end of the hall had a dim light shining beneath it. Hotch and Gideon crept down the hallway twoard it, hoping that JJ would be behind it as there was no where else in the building for her to be. They had already looked in the auditorium and in several classrooms. The old church was dark and empty, all except for that one last room, they hoped.

"Jennifer Jareau!" Gideon called.

"JJ! Can you hear us?" Hotch tried,too. But there was no answer.

Back and the precinct, Morgan wasn't having any luck breaking Flannery.

"Look, man, we know your house is a sham. We know your hiding place, we've got agents there as we speak. Just please help yourself out here, where is Agent Jareau!" Morgan demanded.

Flannery anwered with no more then a stony stare, not even asking for a lawyer as Morgan had expected him to.

"You're really not helping yourself any by keeping your mouth shut!"

Still silence accompanied by that stare. Behind the glass, Reid and Elle watched in desparation.

"This guy isn't going to tell us anything." Elle commented.

"Morgan is good at this. Maybe he can break him." Reid remained optimistic.

"It takes time to do that, Reid. More time then we have."

He caught what she meant and started to open his mouth but quickly shut it again before he said anything else. The whole team was on edge and his way of trying to make things better only seemed to make them worse, especially when the only thing that _would_ make things better would be finding JJ, safe and sound, and having the whole mess over with. He sighed and turned back to watching Morgan try to break the suspect.

Slowly, JJ opened her eyes. She thought she had heard someone calling her name, but the only person to call her Jennifer lately was Flannery. Her friends never called her that. Reid had called her Jen once, when they had gone to the game together. She wished she was at the game now and not tied up in the dark. She shut her eyes again, remembering that day...

_"Let's see, um, I think the seats are over here." he pointed, turning the tickets round and round in his hands._

_JJ laughed, it was so unusual to see Reid confused about anything. "No, they're over here." She pointed in the opposite direction. "See, the seat numbers go that way? And these are box seats so they're down near the front."_

_"The front? Where the ball is?"_

_"It's not baseball, Spence. It won't come into the stands." she laughed again as she led him down the stadium stairs._

_"How do you know so much about sports?" he asked._

_"During college, I was a sports reporter for the school's newspaper. Mostly, it was just college ball, but some of it was major leagues. Plus, growing up with three brothers, I always knew a lot about sports." JJ explained._

_"Wow. Three brothers. I always wanted a sibling." _

_"It was a lot of fun." she pushed a stray piece of hair out of her face. "Here's our seats."_

_Balancing hot dogs, soda, and a big container of popcorn, the two pushed their way down the crowded aisle toward their seats. "Wow. We're really close." Reid commented as they sat down._

_"They're great seats, you're really going to have to thank Gideon for them."_

_"You know?" he was surprised._

_"Yeah. But it doesn't matter. I'll teach you a thing or two about football." Secretly, JJ knew Gideon had purposely gotten tickets for her favorite team just to give Reid an excuse to ask her out. But he had meant well, and Reid could be fun, so she had decided to go along with it._

_He looked down at his sneakers for a minute._

_"Spence? It really is all right." she put her hand on his shoulder._

_"Thanks, Jen." _

The memory made her want to cry because at this very moment she wasn't even sure there'd be a chance for another one. She tried to rub her eyes, to rid them of the tears, but she couldn't with her hands cuffed to the bed.

Just then she heard her name again. This time, she could hear it clearly and knew it wasn't Flannery.

Hotch whirled around, nearly knocking Gideon over. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"The rattling. Like chains."

The sound came through the walls again. "It's coming from behind this door." Gideon kicked it. "JJ, are you in there?" There wasn't an answer.

"Maybe she can't answer. JJ, move the chains again." Hotch asked.

Behind the door, she complied, willing them to hurry and get her the heck out of wherever the heck this was.

"She's there." the men said together, relieved she was still alive at least.

They backed up as far as the hallway would allow and threw themselves against the door. It didn't budge.


	7. Chapter 7

chapter 7

a/n sorry for the very long delay. i had this all written and finished and my computer crashed. with it, every story i had ever written was gone, so it took me a while to even want to begin writing anything again. but i've been getting all these reviews from people asking me to finish, so y'all really inspired me to start writing it again. i hope the final chapters are everything you've been waiting for! thanks so much! 

Gideon slumped against the door, exhausted from bodily ramming the door so many times. Beside him, Hotch sat on the dirty floor, trying to catch his breath. 

"It's no use, Jason. We have no way of opening that door by ourselves and we aren't even sure she's in there." Hotch added.

"She is. I'm sure of it. Besides there is no where else for her to be." Gideon remained positive that JJ was behind the massive heavy door.

"All right." Hotch pushed himself up off the floor. "I'm going to go for help. Maybe a locksmith could help."

"Wait." Gideon stood up also. "We haven't tried everything yet."

"Like what? There is nothing left for us to do!"

"Like shooting the lock out." 

"That's not safe, not in such a small space," Hotch started to protest to no avail as Gideon fired one, two, three shots into the lock as Hotch tried to speak. Silently, he began to pray that JJ wasn't directly behind the door or else she'd be in the line of fire.

Just as suddenly as he began, Gideon stopped shooting and rammed himself against the door again.

This time, the door flew open and Gideon nearly fell flat on his face with the suddenness of it.

Inside the small damp room lay a very frightened JJ. She had heard the voices, was certain of whom they belonged to, but the bullets flying through the door had terrified her as she had had no idea what was going on and thought perhaps Flannery had returned for a showdown with the agents.

JJ had had a hard time of it, being literally chained to the bed and listening to what she thought was a shootout so she had begun to pray harder then she ever had, that Gideon and Hotch would be all right. When they had come crashing through the door she had never been so grateful in her life.

Hotch rushed over to her and attempted to remove the chains from her wrists.

JJ nodded, exhausted. "Flannery," she gasped. "It's the reporter, Flannery!"

"We know." Gideon spoke up. "He's in custody right now. Morgan and Elle have him down at the station."

"Gideon, we're going to need bolt cutters or something to get her out," Hotch said, quietly. "And an ambulance, look how swollen her arm is." Indeed, JJ's left arm was swollen and painful looking. "It's probably broken," he continued.

"I'll make the call." Gideon pulled out his cell phone and pressed M for Morgan, as he headed out into the hallway to make the call.

Morgan groaned in frustation. They had been questioning Flannery for hours and he still had yet to crack. Morgan wished he could slam his fist into something, anything! Preferably Flannery's face, but it wouldn't get JJ back any sooner, so he just groaned again and reached for the door of the interrogation room once more. As he did, his phone rang. "Morgan," he answered automatically. "Did you find her?"

Elle and Reid looked up, hopeful expressions written across their faces.

"uh uh uh, okay. We'll get right on it." Morgan hung up, turned to faced Elle and Reid. "All right, they've got her!"

Instantly the questions began.

"Is she okay?"

"Is she _alive_?"

"Where'd they find her?"

"When are they coming back with her?"

The questions kept flying until Morgan put his hand up for silence. "They've found her." he repeated. "It looks although JJ is fine except she may have a broken arm. But, yes, she is very much alive. They found her at the old abandoned church, which was Flannery's hideout. It was Gideon on the phone. He wants an ambulance and a locksmith sent out immediately."

"A locksmith? What for?" Elle asked.

"Apparently, Flannery had chained JJ to a bed so she couldn't escape."

"Oh, that's horrible!" exclaimed one of the detectives.

"Yeah, well, excuse me while I go beat the crap out of him." Morgan went into the interrogation room. No one tried to stop him, they all would have done the same thing he was about to do if it had been one of their own.

Elle and Reid looked at each other and simutaneously pulled out their cell phones. Elle called for an ambulance, Reid took care of the locksmith.

"I just talked to Morgan. He's going to get an ambulance and a locksmith out here ASAP. "Gideon came back into the tiny room.

"Good." Hotch sat on the filthy floor, holding JJ's good hand. "She fell asleep a few minutes ago. But before she did, she was telling me some things you'll be interested to know."

"Really? Like what, Flannery gave her a complete confession?"

"Just about."

"You're kidding, right?" Gideon's jaw dropped open.

"Nope, JJ says Flannery showed her all the photos of the known missing three and then some. The photos are over there, in that cabinet." Hotch pointed. "She also said he told her about videos he had made, of the women."

Gideon sighed. "How many women?"

"Ten women, she thinks, maybe more or less. She didn't say anything but it is rather obvious she's been in some pain with the arm, so she isn't entirely sure of everything."

"How'd that happen?" 

"Her arm? She said it happened on the first day, when he took her, she put up a fight and he twisted her arm back."

"He didn't drug her, like the others?" Gideon questioned.

"I'm not sure. JJ wasn't clear on everything. Maybe once we get her out of here, she'll be able to tell us more."

Gideon nodded, thoughtfully. That was very possible, especially with JJ being an FBI agent, she was trained to notice details differently then most people would have.

"The ambulance will be here soon?" Hotch spoke again.

"Morgan said they'd get right on it. But we're quite a ways out of town, so it might be a while. The locksmith will probably arrive with the ambulance."

Hotch didn't answer, he was busy spreading his suit jacket over JJ as a makeshift blanket. The setting sun had caused the already chilly room to grow even colder.

"We've got to get her out of here. It's freezing in here."

Just as Hotch spoke, the welcome sound of approached sirens could be heard. The noise woke JJ who fought the restraints until she realized who was sitting next to her.

"Don't worry, JJ" Hotch told her. "You're going to get out of here very soon." He squeezed her hand, reassuring her all was going to be okay. JJ just nodded, spent from the whole ordeal.

"I'm going to go out there and show them where we are." Gideon said. "You stay here with her, all right?"

"Sure, see you in a few minutes." Hotch knew it wouldn't take long to show the paramedics where the room was. 

Gideon headed out the door and down the dark hallway he and Hotch had traveled just a few hours earlier. It seemed much longer to him, in fact, the past two days seemed to be years instead of days for they had passed so slowly. He did not like losing (or almost losing as was the case) a member of his team.

That night, after JJ had been examined and settled into a hospital room, Hotch and Gideon came to see her. She looked like she had been through hell and back, but she was very much alive and for that the whole team was thankful. 

"Hey, JJ." Hotch said softly when they entered the room. "You feel up to some questions?"

"We could do this in the morning if you can't do it now." Gideon added.

"No, no, it's fine. I'm good." JJ sounded tired.

"All right." Hotch pulled two chairs over next to the bed. He sat in one and Gideon in the other. "For starters, we know when Flannery ambushed you but we don't know how. Do you remember?"

"Yes." JJ took a deep breath and continued. "I had just bought coffee for everyone at the coffee shop..."

_JJ is trying to balance a tray full of coffee, a box of doughnuts, and a purse while opening the door to the coffee shop when suddenly it opens for her. She looks up to thank whoever it is that has opened it for her and see the nosy reporter from the press conference last night. "Hey, thanks. Flannery, wasn't it?" She grins at him, trying to be polite._

_"Yes. Sean Flannery. Have you gotten anything new?"_

_"We're planning another press conference tomorrow afternoon, if we get anything new." JJ answered. "That's the way we always do things."_

_"Okay. I was just hoping for something new, that's all." _

_She nodded and turned to go around the corner, when suddenly a white handkerchief was pulled tight over her mouth and nose. Struggling, she dropped her purse and the coffee but couldn't get away from him. Pain shot through her conciousness as everything faded to black._

"Then when I woke up, I was in that room. I've been there the whole time." JJ finished.

Hotch nodded, writing everything down. Gideon looked troubled. Flannery had messed with his people and he did not like that at all.

chapter 7 done. chapter 8 half done. i really am working on it, i promise!!


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

The door to the interrogation room flew open, waking up Flannery. "Sean Flannery, you are under arrest for the murders of Victoria Lawrence, Mildred Sidney, Cleo Bartholomew, Samantha Powers, Traci Layne, Sofia Gardner, Rachel Black, Sue Bauer, Emily MacMurray, and Lisa Harding. You are also under arrest for the kidnapping and attempted murder of a federal agent, Jennifer Jareau." Gideon told him, glad to finally say it at last.

The slack look on Flannery's face turned into utter shock, then anger. "No, no, no!" he began screaming. "You weren't suppose to find her! No, no, no!" Suddenly he was kicking and screaming, red in the face. It took four officers to handcuff him and carry him to a cell to await arraignment.

"I want the arresting officer put down as Jennifer Jareau, got it?" Gideon demanded of the nearest officer.

"Yes, sir!" The officer looked almost afraid of Gideon.

The next morning, Reid and Elle went to pick up JJ for the flight home. The doctors had decided, since the only major injury JJ had was a broken arm, she might as well go home to rest as opposed to staying in the hospital. As they entered the hospital, Reid was suddenly afraid to go up to JJ's room. He didn't know much about women but he was quite certain women did not like male co workers seeing them in hospital gowns that barely covered the backside.

He told this to Elle, who laughed. "JJ knows you're coming. Besides, I brought her clothes last night, remember?"

"Yeah." Reid was not convinced and could not make himself step into that elevator. He looked around and spotted a gift shop. "You go on up, I'm going to go to that gift shop over there." He ran off before Elle could say anything.

Elle shook her head and stepped into the elevator by herself. Reid could be so strange sometimes.

Inside the little gift shop an older lady looked up as Reid entered. "Can I help you?" she asked.

"Um, I don't know. Maybe. I'm looking for something for my friend."

"And how old is your friend?"

"Um, I don't know. Twenty seven maybe?" Reid was flustered. He had never asked JJ how old she was although he thought she was older then him.

"Oh, a lady friend, is it?" the lady asked, nodding.

Reid looked relieved and nodded,too. "Yeah. Her name is JJ and she likes the Washington Redskins and butterflies. Got anything like that?" He glanced around the room. Mostly it was glass figurines and stuffed animals along with popular paperback novels.

"Well, I don't know. Not anything for the Redskins. We mostly just have California teams merchandise. Hmm, what about one of these?" she held up a handful of popular paperbacks.

Reid shook his head. "Maybe something else." He wandered over to the stuffed animals, the lady following.

"We have t shirts you can customize for the stuffed animals." she suggested as they looked over the selection.

Reid shook his head slowly. "Isn't something more like a child would want?

"Lots of grown women like them."

"Well, maybe a bear. Bears are good, I think." Reid looked unsure of himself. He picked up a medium sized panda bear. "Is this one good?"

"Sure it is." And before Reid could blink, the bear was wrapped and in a box. "That'll be 14.99, please."

"For a stuffed animal?"

"Plus gift wrapping."

He sighed and handed over his credit card.

"Sign here, and have a good day." The lady looked pleased, making a sale in what was usually a pretty quiet gift shop.

Slowly, Reid made it up to the second floor where JJ and Elle were waiting. Suddenly, he felt like a fool, bringing a present like he was and wished he could hide it. But he knew she _would_ like it, if he could just get up the courage to give it to her.

The hallway to her room seemed extraordinarily long to poor Reid as he walked it. "225, that's what Elle said," he repeated to himself. He turned the corner and there was 225. He raised his hand to knock when he heard a voice call out to him.

"Spence, you don't have to knock." JJ said.

"Oh, um, okay." He pushed the door open. "Where's Elle?" He tried not to look at JJ.

"She went to get a cart for all these flowers and balloons." Indeed, the small room was being overrun with flowers on every available space and balloons in every corner.

"I guess you're popular." Reid attempted to hide the box. He tried to reason with himself, "_she already has a bunch of stuff, she doesn't need this,too."_ But JJ saw what he was doing.

"What are you hiding?" JJ tried to hide a smile.

"Did you, uh, did you know that Gideon had you put down as arresting officer?"

"No. I didn't know that. Wow. That was nice of him." JJ wasn't sure what to say, she had never arrested anyone before.

"Yeah. I guess he just wanted to do something for you."

"Is that all?" Painkillers or no, JJ could tell Reid was hiding, or more accurately trying to hide, a box behind his back.

"Oh, uh, uh, this is for you." He thrust the box forward, hoping he wasn't making a mistake.

JJ gave up hiding her smile and reached for the box. Slowly she pulled the lid off the box to reveal the stuffed animal, wrapped in blue tissue paper. "It's adorable, Spence! Thank you very much."

"It's really cute, Reid. Really, I like it." JJ was certain he felt uncomfortable buying a girl a present and thought she should try to reassure him.

"Really?" Reid smiled, he hadn't been such an idiot after all. And JJ actually seemed to genuinely like the ridiculously expensive stuffed animal. He suddenly felt rather proud of himself, for getting her something different then the others had. Gideon had bought her flowers, Hotch balloons and Morgan a big box of candy,and Elle had brought a book that JJ had been talking about. Then again maybe a stuffed animal was stupid and she was only being nice. He knew she would be nice to him even if she hated the present.

"Hey, it really is nice. I like pandas. I've never had a stuffed panda bear before. They're hard to find." JJ reached out with her good hand to reassure him.

Slowly, Reid began to smile again. "Good. I'm glad you like it."

Elle knocked on the door then, breaking up the moment. "You ready to go now?"

"Yeah, we're ready. Here, I'll take that." Elle reached for the overnight bag JJ had started to pick up. "Reid, you put all the flowers and stuff on that cart, okay? JJ, we'll take care of it all." The two busied themselves with gathering the flowers, balloons, and other odds and ends around the room. JJ sat on the bed and watched, feeling kind of useless but knowing that just the walk to the car was going to wear her out.

"All's well that ends well." Gideon said, taking a seat next to Hotch. He had just been talking to JJ, making sure she was comfortable for the long flight home. "JJ's safe and we're all heading home relatively in one piece."

"There's still a long road ahead for her though. Broken arms heal a lot faster then memories fade." Hotch answered.

"True." Gideon nodded. "But those tickets I bought for Reid on his birthday, it worked out well."

"What worked?"

"My matchmaker skills." A rare smile lit up Gideon's face.

Hotch turned around and looked toward the back of the place where JJ and Reid sat, talking quietly.

"It did indeed." Hotch grinned,too. "If Reid doesn't scare her off with all his facts, maybe it'll even last a while.'

"You never know. At least she'll have someone when the nightmares begin."

'I don't want to think about that."

"I didn't say they'd be together like _that_, they both have telephones, you know."

"Much better scenerio." Hotch agreed, relieved. He did _not_ want to even begin to think of two of his agents like that.

Their conversation was interrupted by a sudden commotion. Both men turned again to look toward the back of the plane to find Elle and Morgan trying to fit balloons,cake, and themselves through the narrow doorway.

"It's party time!" Morgan was shouting.

JJ was smiling, Reid looked slightly confused, and Elle was laughing.

It was the perfect ending to the week.

well,was it worth the wait? i've had surgery (during my hospital stay is actually when i got the idea for this story), lost my job and moved a thousand miles during the writing of this, but somehow kept coming back to this story. it's the first fanfic i've actually finished and it is all because all of you guys kept pestering me for the ending. thanks for all the comments, i hope it is as good as you hoped. sarah


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